Women's basketball: Lappe's CU Buffs have learned to win on road

Coach has turned around losing culture away from Boulder

Protecting the home court is always a priority for the Colorado women's basketball team.

Finding success on the road has become a priority, too.

On Sunday, the No. 23 Buffaloes (12-2, 1-2 Pac-12) visit Utah (9-5, 0-3) for their first conference road game of the season.

"We talk about just being ready to go on the road," head coach Linda Lappe said. "We know it's always a little bit more difficult, but we thrive with going on the road.

"We've been on the road so far this year, and have done pretty well, but you've always got to be ready on the road. You never know what you're going to see. You never know what the environment is going to be like."

When Lappe became CU's head coach for the 2010-11 season, she had to turn around a culture of losing on the road. In the six seasons before she arrived, the Buffs were a combined 18-62 away from Boulder, including 7-41 in conference games. Most of those conference wins came at Missouri.

Lappe lost her first nine road games as the Buffs coach, but since then CU is 15-9 away from Boulder, including 3-0 this season. Last season, the Buffs were 9-8 away from Boulder, their first winning road record since the 2003-04 season.

Prior to last year, it almost felt as if the Buffs had to steal wins on the road. That's not the case anymore, Lappe said.

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"We look at the teams we're playing, we look at the situation we're in," she said. "There's going to be some where we're going to feel like it might be a steal, but with us, I think sometimes we play better on the road. That's not always bad."

The Buffs know they need to get even better, though. While they were 9-8 on the road last year, they were just 3-6 in conference play. That was still the most conference road wins for a CU team in nine years, but that mark won't be good enough this year.

"With where we're at right now and where our program is, we've got to win some road games in order to get to where we want to go," Lappe said. "We need to have a better road record than last year, yeah. To get a better overall record than we had last year, we've got to have a better road record."

It ought to help the Buffs that they will be taking their second tour of Pac-12 cities. They know a little bit of what to expect in each venue, such as Utah's Huntsman Center.

"We definitely know it's a harder atmosphere (in the Pac-12) to play in and that you have to play better than you would need to necessarily at home to beat a certain team," sophomore Lexy Kresl said. "We know that we just have to step up our game and you have to be a lot more focused."

Focus will be of extra importance today because the Buffs are facing the Utes for the second game in a row. CU beat Utah 67-57 on Tuesday.

"It'll definitely be interesting," Kresl said. "I've never experienced anything like it. It'll show a lot of different sides to both of our teams, I think. I think it'll exploit a lot of weaknesses and it'll challenge both of us. I think it'll be good."

Having just played on Tuesday, both teams will be very familiar with the scouting report and will likely have an easier time making adjustments.

"We're both familiar with each other and it's going to come down to who is going to execute what they do better," Lappe said.

Notable

The Buffs have a two-game home stand next week before embarking on a four-game road trip. ... CU freshman Lauren Huggins, who has missed the past seven games with stress fractures in her right leg, tweeted that Saturday would be her first day in five weeks without a walking boot.

STORYLINES: CU beats the Utes 67-57 on Tuesday night. The Buffs' Chucky Jeffery had 28 points and 12 rebounds in that game, while Utah's Taryn Wicijowski had 17 points and 11 boards. ... Last year, CU beat the Utes 58-52 in Salt Lake City in the Pac-12 debut for both schools. ... The Buffs averaged 74.3 points per game in non-conference play, but are posting just 52.0 per game so far in conference play. ... On the season, the CU defense is allowing just 54.9 points per game, while Utah is allowing just 55.0. ... Jeffery has grabbed 25 percent of CU's rebounds in its three Pac-12 games. ... CU assistant coach Jonas Chatterton is a native of Salt Lake City and a Utah graduate. ... This is just the third time CU has faced the same opponent in back-to-back regular season. The other two games were against Colorado State, in the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons. ... Utah's Taryn Wicijowski has averaged 16.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in four meetings against the Buffs. She has had at least 16 points in each game.

KEY STAT: During Pac-12 play, the Buffs are hitting 68.4 percent of their free throws, while the Utes are hitting just 59.5 percent. Missed free throws hurt the Utes in Tuesday's loss, as they made just 11 of 19.

COACHES: Linda Lappe is 51-32 in her third season at CU and 101-68 overall. Anthony Levrets is 43-38 in his third season at Utah and for his career.

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